WAC spring football roundup

Several other WAC teams have started spring practice, so we thought we would check in with our less-talented conference brethren to see what's happening.

Nevada
Nevada concluded its spring football with the annual Silver and Blue scrimmage on Saturday. Colin Kaepernick rushed for two scores and completed as many passes as he had rushing attempts. Is there a running back debate?

Passing: Kaepernick 5-15, 74 yards, 0 TDs, 1 Int
Rushing: Kaepernick 5-146, 2 TDS; Lippincott 3-12;

Sadly, no.

Kaepernick scores twice [Nevada]

San Jose State
San Jose State's first spring scrimmage was enjoyable...if you find defense and short field goals enjoyable.

The offense scored its only touchdown of the 60-play scrimmage on a 9-yard pass by Myles Eden to running back Cameron Island. Jared Strubeck, who handled all of the kicking responsibilities in the scrimmage, made field goals of 26 and 29 yards.

On the plus side, they found a punter.

Right now, it looks like Jared Strubeck will be our punter," coach Dick Tomey said. "He’s done some real good things..."

...none of which could be quantified by the stat sheet.

Tomey impressed with Spartans' spring football [San Jose State]

Louisiana Tech
LaTech's spring ball is underway, and the Bulldogs are adding a twist to the offense this year...scoring!

The Bulldogs installed portions of the red zone offense...and also worked on maximizing how many points their offense can produce when given the opportunity.

They are currently at 3.5 points.

Bulldogs work red area [LaTech]

Utah State
A little snow couldn't deter the Aggies from starting spring ball. Competition? Yes. Snow? No.

"With the way we get to practice these first few days without pads, it's a lot easier to throw and catch, and it looks everyone will be in position to make the tackle, "USU head coach Brent Guy said.

He went on to add: "It's too bad we eventually have to put on pads."

Spring drills opened Wednesday [Utah State]

Bronco fans asking the wrong question

The debate over BSU's starting quarterback is the most talked about issue among Boise State fans.

But should it be?

Quite frankly, no. Sure it is fun to debate Moore vs. Hamdan, but the quarterback can't do anything without a good offensive line in front of him. This was no truer than in Friday's scrimmage, and while we left feeling good about the future of the team, we also felt that the QB debate pales in comparison to the topic of the offensive line.

Losing five of the top six linemen off of last year's squad hurt more than any other personnel loss (Marty Tadman, you were a close second). Those guys were the heart and soul of the offense, and the team would not have performed as well as it did without the play of the offensive line. Since so much attention rests on the QB position, it is easy to forget that we have four of the most important spots on the team up for grabs. Bronco fans can argue about QBs until they are blue in the face, but it is our opinion that the O-line debate will be infinitely more important.

The Broncos were most successful in Friday's scrimmage when the offensive line gave the quarterbacks time to throw and gave the running backs holes to run through. The Broncos can have all the talent in the world at RB, WR, and QB (and they do), but it won't mean a thing if the offensive line doesn't perform well. Such was the case in the first scrimmage.

Everyone has been quick to praise the performances of Kellen Moore, Titus Young, and the running backs, but there was a large portion of the scrimmage where the Boise State offense did nothing. Plays were stuffed behind the line, QBs were running for their lives, and the Broncos were not moving the ball well at all. The defense dominated for stretches, and the line was mostly to blame.

Things turned around in the second half when the guys up front started performing better. Moore had time in the pocket to find his receivers. Ian Johnson and Doug Martin ran nearly untouched into the end zone. The offense ran much smoother when there weren't defensive linemen in the backfield. Imagine that.

With the big scores late in the scrimmage, it is easy to forget about how disjointed the offense looked at times--a scary thought considering the absence of so many defensive starters.

Does the offensive line have work to do? Absolutely. Does the rest of the team? Sure. But instead of placing so much focus on which quarterback will be taking snaps, perhaps Broncos fans should be more concerned with who will be protecting him.

Bold predictions for the week ahead

With a successful scrimmage in the books, the Boise State football team will be taking the next week off for spring break. Will OBNUG be doing the same? Hardly. But we may take a vacation from jokes at Utah State's expense.

Here is what we see happening over the next few days.

• Message boards will burn up with rumors of Kellen Moore being the 2008 starting quarterback, forcing the BSU coaches to close off the Internet to fans and media.
  
  
• With Boise State students flocking to the sunny beaches of California and Florida, most Bronco players will choose to stay near campus and enjoy the overcast shores of Lake Lowell and Lucky Peak Reservoir.
  
  
• Not content with the number of formations, Coach Pete will spend the week installing Hawaii's spread attack, Fresno State's power formations, and whatever it is that Idaho does.

Boise State scrimmage recap

The Boise State Broncos impressed us Friday in their first scrimmage of the spring. Kellen Moore and Titus Young may have grabbed the headlines, but we saw good performances from many others, too. Here is some extra detail to Friday’s practice:

• Doug Martin took the opening kick out past the 50.
• Bush Hamdan started, and he looked very Taylor Tharp-ish…which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. He made a few good throws, and he led the offense down the field for a FG attempt. We thought he missed a wide open man on a sweet play-action fake, but he really didn’t get enough action to adequately compare him to Moore.
• The Broncos showed a lot of shotgun and several plays from the new Q formation. A lot of the Q plays were running plays to the backs.
• Nick Lomax looked downright awful evading the pass rush. His fumble was painful/amusing.
• Mike Coughlin was nothing special.
• The defensive line made several plays in the backfield. It was hard to tell who was making the plays, but we know Ryan Winterswyk had an impact.
• Kellen Moore was a breath of fresh air. He handled pressure and ran the offense much better than Coughlin or Lomax.
• D.J. Harper had multiple plays where he refused to get tackled. It looked like the defense had him down, and he would continue to fight for extra yards.
• Kellen Moore’s 50-yard pass to Titus Young was a beauty. He hit him in stride on a deep corner route over double coverage.
• The new Boise State safeties are surprisingly big and tall. There were no rosters available, but we think that true freshman George Iloka was one of the impressive ones.
• Defensive line and linebackers made more plays Friday than they did all last year.
• The D-line got pressure without several starters playing. That is either good news for the defense or bad news for the offense.
• Shotgun snaps might be a problem; there were a few that didn’t get there very fast and fouled up some plays.
• Ian Johnson looked fast on his touchdown run. It was a stretch play from the shotgun, and he went to the house almost untouched.
• Doug Martin’s TD was similar—he took it off the right side of the line and went untouched into the end zone.
• The two Bronco touchdown passes were brilliantly designed plays. Titus Young’s wide receiver screen was perfect, and TE Sean King was wide open on his touchdown grab.

Underclassmen shine in first scrimmage [Idaho Statesman]
New-look Broncos go on display [Idaho Press-Tribune]